Falling
by Pale Moonlit Nightsky
Summary: She would stumble sometimes, but she never fell. SasuSaku. Premature fluff.


_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I never will. But I own this story and this plot. :)  
_  
_Plot: She would always play on the fence outside her house. And he would always watch. She would stumble sometimes, but she never fell. When she did this, she would always smile. He liked that._

_These are a collection of Naruto oneshots for my favourite pairings. I'm not sure how many there will be. If there are requests, I might do them. :) But basically, the oneshots will always be following the idea of 'falling' or 'never falling'. Next chapter will either be Naruto and Hinata, Shikamaru and Ino or Neji and Tenten. That might be all, after those three pairings. I'm not sure if they will all be pre-academy when these stories occur - the ages will vary :) Thankyou! _

_Pairing: Sasuke x Sakura for this first chapter. _**  
**

- -

**1. Almost Falling**

**- -**

She was five.

So was he.

She was balancing upon a fence outside her house, hopping along from each wooden post to the other.

He was watching her.

She didn't know.

There was something about her. Something that made him look.

Was it the way her hair moved in the gentle breeze? He liked that, he decided.

It was pink. Not the pink of the worms he frequently dug up proudly to show his mother from the garden. It was more like the pink of the chewing gum that sometimes got stuck to his shoes – before he stepped in dirt and turned it a dirty brown colour. It was also the pink of the ice-cream his mother sometimes brought home for him to eat.

But most of all, it was the pink of the flowers that fell from the trees in spring. He liked that.

She never fell. Often, she would stumble, and look as if she was falling, but they were always 'almost-falls'. She would somehow find a way to regain balance, and when that happened, her sweet face would break into an even bigger smile, and her eyes would crinkle in a funny way.

He liked that too. Her eyes were nice. He decided they were green. Not the green that sometimes gathers around the bird poo that falls from the sky. Not the green of the soft grass either.

It was the green of the apples he ate at home, and the one his mother had consequently packed him today for his little walk. He liked apples, but not as much as he liked tomatoes.

He wasn't sure if he would like her with tomato-coloured eyes. That would make them red.

He knew what her name was. Sometimes, he would hear her mother calling from inside the house behind the fence, just checking to see if the girl was okay.

Her mother called the girl Sakura. He decided he liked her name too.

The girl stumbled, again. He waited for her to stop her insecure wobbling, and stand back up properly – like she always did. Then he would see her smile again.

But she didn't.

He saw a glimpse of worry in her green, green eyes before she shut them tight.

He didn't think there was going to be any 'almost' to this fall.

- -

She would always play on the fence outside her house.

It was her favourite game.

Sometimes, when she was skipping along, she would see this boy.

She didn't know who he was. But he was always there.

Most of the time, anyway. Sometimes she wouldn't be able to find him.

He would never say hello. Sometimes she wondered if he wanted to play with her. She would like that.

He had black hair. It stuck up a lot, like her own hair would when she woke up in the morning. But she decided that his hair was nice that way. And it looked soft to touch.

His hair matched the colour of his eyes. His eyes were a nice colour.

On the whole, she thought he was a very nice looking boy.

She would have liked it if he said hello.

Today, she was balancing again. But she was going higher on the fence than usual. There was a nice feeling when she got up high. The wind made her face feel cool.

She hadn't seen the boy today. It made her a little sad. She would have liked it very much if he had come and played with her.

Deciding that she wanted to go down now, she tried to jump back down to the lower part of the fence.

But she tripped. Her foot got caught on the wood, and she stumbled.

She was scared. She was going to fall. And she knew it would hurt.

Squeezing her eyes tight, she waited for the ground to catch her in a more-than-painful way.

But the pain never came.

- -

He wasn't sure what he was doing.

He'd never come up to her before.

But somehow, he didn't want to see her fall. Or even worse, cry.

And so he ran. And he caught her. She was heavy, he decided. Heavy, but nice to hold.

- -

She looked up to see the boy.

He had come to say hello.

And he had stopped her from getting hurt.

She decided he was as nice as he looked.

Smiling, she blinked at him and touched his hair. It was soft, like she thought it would be.

- -

He felt her small hands on his hair. It felt nice, he decided.

But suddenly, his face began to feel hot. And he was quite sure they were turning the colour of tomatoes.

He put her down, making sure she was okay.

"You should be more careful, you almost fell."

She looked at him.

She smiled.

"I never fall."

That was true, he thought. But she 'almost fell' quite a lot.

"What's your name?"

He was a bit scared, but he found his voice soon enough.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke."

"I'm Sakura."

"I know."

- -

He had known her name. She was surprised, but happy none the less. She had made a friend. A very nice friend. He was going to be her special friend, she decided.

And when they grew up, they would get married. She wanted to touch his soft hair every day. And make him smile.

"Want to play?"

She felt him looking at her. He nodded.

Happily, she took his hand and pulled him up on the fence. She liked his hands. They were soft like his hair.

He looked down at her, confused.

"Aren't you scared of falling again?"

She giggled.

"Didn't I tell you? I never fall."

He smiled back.

He would make sure of that.

- -

**Omake (extra, or bonus):**

They were the best of friends.

She giggled, extending her arm out to himas he frowned back at her.

His shyness was now non-existent. He would come to her house every day, with a tomato or apple in his pocket for a snack.

She would take him outside, and attempt to teach him how to balance on her fence.

He would always fall.

She would laugh, hopping on one foot at the top of the fence.

He took this as her mocking him. But he forgave her - after a while.

"Hn."

"Sasuke-kun! Don't be like that. You'll learn one day."

Balancing on wooden poles was harder than he thought. He couldn't bare Sakura being better than him in it.

Maybe later tonight, he would come and practise. Then he would show her how good he was. In fact, he was determined to be better than her at this game.

Anyway, he was going to be a ninja when he grew up. Just like his brother Itachi. He couldn't let a _girl _beat him.

He smirked.

He sat down. Today, mother had packed him a tomato. He was glad.

Taking it out, and rubbing it on his shirt, he bit hungrily into it.

He heard a giggle.

"Sasuke-kun, you have tomato juice on your chin."

He would scowl.

"But I love you anyway."

They were the _best_ of friends.

- -

_And yes, Moonlight is alive!_

_ So that was Almost Falling. :) I hope you liked it. _

_ I know it seems a bit odd that she was thinking about marriage at age 5. But I thought it gave a 'romantic Sakura' feel to it. After all, it is Sakura we're talking about. If Sasuke seems a little OOC.. Well, he hasn't been through the Uchiha Massacre yet. I did try and make him more Sasuke-y, because he's not exactly social, and quite quiet. But I'm sorry if he seems OOC to you.  
_

_Also, I kind of tried a different style - even though my writing would be different anyway, with the whole being away from FF for a year. Simple writing - because they're still young, and it's sort of in their own point of view, but from third person? If that made any sense - you deserve a golden star. _

_And for ANYONE who has stayed with me for a year of absense, I am _**so** _sorry. So please take this as an apologetic story for you all. You are so special to me, all my reviewers. Have a bit of toddler SasuSaku love. _

_ Review if you want to. It'd make me happy._

_So what is Moonlight working on now? Well, I'm working on a new chapter of Just Another. I have so many ideas for this story! It's just taking me some time to get it all down in paragraphs. I think Masked Love will be on a break for a while. Not that I don't like the storyline, but I'm finding it hard to write, and that my writing in it sucks. Not that it's getting any better, but I can't continue it right now for some reason. I think the same goes for Till We Meet Again.  
_

_ If you have been waiting for an update on those two, have the **BIGGEST HUG** you can imagine from me. One, for wanting an update, and two, because you might not get one for a while. I might edit When Rain Falls too, but not too much. Just a couple of lines._

_Also, of course, the other chapters of this story. And just in case you didn't read the whole plot - this is a series of oneshots following the 'falling' idea. For all of my favourite Naruto couples. I don't think they'll all be pre-academy, but there's a chance they might. I shall update tomorrow, perhaps! Because I have an idea already. _

_ - Moonlight._

_9. 03. 2008_


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